This one is back to having a more regular sort of file size, but it’s a real biggie in terms of the new things added in it.

First of all, if you’re someone who is getting into the map editor, there’s a number of key additions in the map editor that make designing things like boss rooms a lot more functional and powerful. I needed to make some additions there in order to get closer on the intro mission work, and while I was at it I also added the various recent fan requests for it.

As a part of that, I also created another four boss room templates using some of the new features, and went back retroactively and upgraded most of the boss rooms to have make sure that bosses now will always tend to seed in a better fashion, etc. Also while I was at it, I really improved how the procedural rooms are being created, so that they will tend to have more varied, interesting shapes than before.

Storm Dash has been altered to be easier to use and to be more distinct from Storm Rush, which is pretty cool. And a number of bugs were fixed in general, along with some momentum tweaks turning around, and things of that nature.

EXP ContainersMy favorite new feature from this one, though, would have to be the new EXP Containers. These can now be found in over-large rooms and at the end of long, formerly-pointless hallways. They are found in special abundance in attics, basements, and maze rooms. They are also pretty common in switch rooms and some boss rooms.

Why are EXP containers such a big deal? Well, this is the first major other source of EXP beyond fighting bosses, so that really opens up the field for people to improve their characters and world without always going head to head against boss monsters.

That’s huge for certain playstyles, and for many newer players who might have poor equipment, and so on. It’s something that some players have really been waiting on for a while, and something we’ve had on our to-do list since prior to even our internal alpha.

It takes about 100 containers on average to gain a new level, which we may need to tweak further. But given the current seeding rates of the containers, this seems like a good first stab at the balance for it — feedback definitely welcome from playtesting, of course!

More to come soon. Enjoy!

This is a standard update that you can download through the
in-game updater itself, if you already have 0.500 or later. When you
launch the game, you’ll see the notice of the update having been found
if you’re connected to the Internet at the time. If you don’t have 0.500 or later, you can download that here.

About Arcen (Ar-ken) Games

Originally known for our unusual and highly effective approach to RTS artificial intelligence in our debut title AI War: Fleet Command, we have since branched out into many other genres and styles of games.

As you can tell by browsing our catalog of titles, our interests are eclectic, and we have a particular affinity for blurring the lines between unlikely genres.